The Prince of Tennis: Tale of Two Princes
by Superspiritgun
Summary: An EPIC Fan Fic surrounding one Sefan Kato, a 1st year at Hyotei the same year that Ryoma Echizen plays for Seishun. In a twist on the series Prince of Tennis, we follow Sefan as he battles his way onto the Hyotei Regulars and onto greater glory.
1. Sefan Kato

KK, this is my first Fan Fic in a while but I want to do it right. I'm gonna shoot for short updates but an update every day if I can. The premise centers around an alternative reality of sorts in which during the same year that Ryoma Echizen plays for Seishun Gakuen, a first year prospect of the same sorts also joins the Hyotei Gakuen team. He is the main character of this story, not Ryoma. While I'm here I am gonna ask something of the people reading this. If you have a few character ideas to pitch at me then E-mail me and I'll send you the template for you to fill out. If I like your character he/she may very well end up in the story. Email Now, without further delay, I give you: The Prince of Tennis: Tale of Two Princes.

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1: SEFAN KATO

DING DONG DING DONG DING DONG!

The bell sounding the end of the day at Hyotei Gakuen rang out over the campus, filling the students with the familiar relief that comes with the end of the day. Most of the students poured out of the school heading for their homes or whatever hide away the different clicks had decided was cool enough for them to hang around this week. Eventually all that could be heard on the Hyotei campus was the sound of racket meeting ball as the first practice of the Hyotei tennis Club of the new term began….or more accurately, was waiting to begin.

All 212 hopefuls gathered in and around the center courts, all of them watching one rally between established members. "There he is.." and "Can you believe those two?" were only a couple of the hushed whispers that could be heard as the rally continued, back and forth back and forth until finally one of the players, a lean player with devilish good looks and dark grey hair, nailed a vicious backhand that forced the other player, a slightly taller guy with blue hair and glasses, to chip the ball high up into the air. The grey-haired played quickly got under the ball and angled back in order to catch the ball in the perfect SMASH that hit the court and shot past the blue-haired player. "Stunning as always Atobe" the blue-haired player said as he shook his head and shuffled off of the court to the bench. The one known as Atobe shrugged and said "It's nothing really Oshitari, trust me you've yet to see anything."

It was at this moment that the sea of new members to the Hyotei Tennis Club was temporarily parted by an older man wearing a grey suite. He walked out into the center of the court and instantly both Atobe and Oshitari quickly snapped to attention before saying "Welcome Coach Sakaki." As if the whole thing was planned, a second later every single kid standing around the court mimicked the two established players in one large "WELCOME COACH SAKAKI!" Sakaki gave no sign that he had heard them, opting instead to wave his hand to demand silence from the crowd. As if suddenly bound and gagged, the crowd was instantly silent.

"There are 212 of you here; in reality I only need 8 of you. That means that 204 of you will not represent your school at the District Tournament in the coming month." Sakaki paused for a second; enjoying the effect this was having on everyone gathered around the court. "The way we choose the 8 is simple; every person here will be involved in a Club wide tournament in which the players who perform the best will be awarded the Regular Spots. So here's what I need of all of you. Before you leave I need you to make sure that you sign your name on one of the sign up sheets. From there, you will randomly be thrown into a bracket. This will be a double elimination tournament, one loss will not disqualify you, but it will make your chances a lot less. The matches will start the day after tomorrow. So now, share the courts and get in some rallying. Practice has begun."

With those words the first official practice for the Hyotei Tennis Club began as players found and friend, a couple of tennis balls, and waited in line to play a couple of points on one of Hyotei's 20 courts. Everyone wanted to show what they could do, everyone except for one lone figure who waded through the crowd to get to the signup sheet hanging on the back fence of center court. He was a 1st year with snow white hair and light blue eyes. He held a white bag on his back with a couple of rackets in it and a water bottle in the pouch on the side. The figure grabbed the clipboard and used the pen to write his name neatly in the first spot. _Sefan Kato. _

Sefan put the clipboard back in it's place and then preceded to make his way out of center court, deciding that he himself did not need a chance to show what he was all about before the tournament began.


	2. The pride of Hyotei

Thanks to all of you who have been reading this. I beg you, spread the word. If you have a friend who is into Prince of Tennis and might like this story then tell them about it. The more the merrier. Now, onto the second chapter and as always, read and review, reviews motivate me to write more .

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**2: The Pride of Hyotei**

The following day ended pretty much as the previous one had. The same ever familiar bell, the same ever familiar crowd of students leaving the school for the day, and the same ever familiar crowd around the tennis courts as the second practice began. It was the same deal as the day before with one exception, this time Sefan had decided to stick around a little longer.

Sefan stood with his back to the fence as he watched two 2ed years rally back and forth on the court in front of them. He seemed to be uninterested in the rally in general but was watching it for proximities sake. He watched the rally for a couple of more seconds before grabbing his white bag and making his way once again to the exit before a taller boy stepped in his path. He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and black shorts and had a shaved head with cold eyes. In his right hand he held his racket, a black prince model. "You're the kid who signed up yesterday and then split aren't you?" The guy asked, completely blocking Sefan's exit.

Sefan sighed and said firmly "What I did yesterday holds no relevance to the fact that you're blocking my exit. Now if you would kindly move-" Sefan was cut off by the guy who stomped the ground and barked "Leaving practice early is NOT the pride of Hyotei. A player truly dedicated to this schools Tennis Club should have the pride to stick around through all of practice even if he does have a big head about his tennis skills."

Sefan looked the taller player in the eye before saying "You're doing this to catch the attention of the coach huh? You figure if he sees you standing up for Hyotei he'll give you an easy seed, an easy ride to the Regulars. You're pathetic." The guy glared down at Sefan, not at all happy at the fact that this 1st year seemed to see right threw him. "It would be far easier just to get on the court and beat someone out here to prove your self to the coach or anyone out here really." Sefan finished. The guy seemed to regain his composure at this boasting by saying "I'm Gajko the Great, I've won more tournaments then you've played matches kid. You're on!"

After clearing a court and picking out one of the watchers on to be the ref for the match, Sefan dropped his bag onto the center court bench, pulling out a white Wilson racket, before walking back onto the court to decide who would serve first. Gajko went to spin his racket, but then decided against it instead turning to Sefan and saying "You can have the first serve, it won't matter." Sefan shrugged and grabbed a couple of balls before taking his place behind the baseline.

"1 set match between Gajko and Sefan. Ready, begin!" The Ref said as he took his place on the chair and the match officially began. "Come on kid, give me your best" Gajko yelled out from across the court as Sefan tossed the ball up high into the air and met it as it came down with his racket sending it flying into the court in front of Gajko who caught the ball in the forehand and returned it pretty easily to the back right corner where Sefan was able to return it with a forehand of his own. They continued to trade forehands back and forth until finally Gajko lead the ball to his backhand side and sliced it, sending it just barely over the net executing a picture perfect DROPSHOT. Gajko turned around and walked toward the baseline knowing the point was over, no one could catch his Dropshot, it was a done deal. However to his horror a split second later the ball came shooting past him, hitting the baseline. Gajko stood stunned for a second before turning around and seeing Sefan standing near the net, spinning his racket on his finger. "15-LOVE!" the ref yelled signaling that Sefan had indeed caught Gajko's Dropshot.

"So you talk of this pride of Hyotei, does it by any chance include losing." Sefan said, still spinning the racket. "Because that's what your about to do…"


	3. Flawless Victory

Annnnnnnddddd third chapter. Read and review people, let me know how I'm doing. I can't get better if you don't review.

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**3: Flawless Victory**

"So you talk of this pride of Hyotei, does it by any chance include losing." Sefan said, still spinning the racket. "Because that's what you're about to do…" The words echoed in Gajko's head as he took his place at the baseline to wait for Sefan's next serve. _"The kid got lucky" _he thought to him self as he bounced up and down once or twice to work out his legs some.

Meanwhile, the match it's self had drawn a bit of attention. A group of older students had gathered outside of the court to watch the match. This group of students included the blue haired player from before, Oshitari. "It was rather surprising that he was able to get to that Dropshot huh Oshitari?" A player with long brown hair and dark eyes to his right asked. "The fact that he got to it is not very surprising Shishido. What is surprising is _how_ he got to it. The kid used a Split Step at exactly the right moment to give him the half second he needed to not only get to the ball, but to burry it into the back court." Oshitari adjusted his glasses and folded his arms, very focused on the match, as Shishido took in everything he had just said. Shishido looked as if he was about to reply, but instead turned his attention back to the match too as Sefan had just thrown up the ball for his serve.

Sefan tossed the ball up into the air and brought it down again starting the second point of the match. Again Gajko hammered the relatively simple served back onto Sefan's side of the court with ease leaving Sefan to sprint to the corner once again to get to the ball. Gajko had plenty of time to set up at the center of the baseline in order to return whatever Sefan shot at him to the other corner but to his surprise Sefan managed to somehow slice the shot, giving it a tremendous amount of sidespin nailing a DROPSHOT of his own. Gajko managed to see the slice as Sefan hit it and sprinted to the net ready to return the shot. The ball just barely cleared the net, hit the ground, and then shot up and to Gajko's left, causing him to miss his stroke completely out of surprise. "30-LOVE!"

"Slice Drop…" Oshitari said with a small smile on his face. "This kid was able to not only hit a drop shot on the run, but he was also able to hit it with enough side slice to get it to jump to the left when it hit the court. Amazing, some of the regulars last year would have had problems with that hit." Again Shishido was silent, opting instead to watch the match closer.

"40-LOVE!"…… "GAME, KATO LEADS 1-LOVE!" A few minutes and two more amazing points later Sefan had won his service game and the two players were switching courts. Gajko grabbed a couple of balls off of the ground and stashed one in his pocket before thinking to him self _"I'll crush him with my Super Serve"_ Gajko tossed up the ball and came down on it hard sending a Bullet serve Sefan's way. _"He'll never return that!" _Gajko thought as he watched his serve fly over the net, land in the court and then fly up right into SEFAN'S RACKET. Sefan lead the shot just enough to send the ball flying to Gajko's left corner scoring a RETURN ACE. "You've got to be kidding me…" Gajko stuttered as he dropped his racket and stared at the amazing player across from him.

"A completely flawless victory, can you believe that Atobe?" Shishido asked as Atobe, Oshitari and himself walked out of the school gates at the end of practice. "Gajko didn't score a single point the whole match; it truly was clinic that kid put on." Oshitari added. Atobe walked in silence as the two went over highlights of the match, how 'that kid' had forced smashes left and right, how he had caught every Dropshot/lob/passing shot that Gajko had dished out at him, and how at the end of it all the kid had just packed up his stuff and left with out saying a word to anyone leaving Gajko broken in the middle of the court. "It truly was amazing Atobe, he could be a real contender this year." Atobe nodded and asked "What was his name?" Shishido looked at Oshitari who gave him the answer "Sefan Kato." They walked in silence for a couple of seconds before Atobe muttered "Sefan Kato huh…."


	4. Scud Serve

**4: Scud Serve**

Atobe pushed the tournament bracket up onto the wall with tape, making sure it was going to stay, before turning around and saying "These are the first round matches, please report to the court your assigned to if you have a first tire match. If not then wait at your court for the match before you to end. As always the center court will not be played on first round." Atobe finished giving the instructions and stepped out of the way as a flock of player rushed to see who their opponents were going to be. A light grey haired played walked away from the bracket with a name firmly in mind. "_Sefan Kato."_

Sefan would wait for the rest of the players to check the board so as not to have to fight the crowd. He scanned the paper looking for his name and finally found it sitting right next to the name Choutarou Ohtori and the words second tier. Sefan didn't recognize the name and shrugged it off walking back toward the courts. Luckily he was on court number 2, right next to center court, so the walk was rather short and he was able to watch on as the first tier matches started from outside of the courts.

15 minutes into the first matches, Sefan noticed as Atobe walked out of one of the other courts. He hadn't broken a sweat and his jacket was still on. He walked past Sefan, not paying him any attention, and walked up to the bracket writing: 6-0 Atobe. "Done already Atobe, care to warm me up real quick on center court?" Another player approached Atobe. He had light grey hair and grey eyes. "Why not Choutarou?" Atobe responded and together the two walked away from the bracket and entered the center court to rally.

"_What luck, my opponent has taken it upon him self to show me what he can do already" _Sefan couldn't help but think as the two took out their rackets and started hitting the ball across the court. All around him matches were being played with scores being called out but Sefan focused on Choutarou in front of him as he rallied with Atobe. Choutarou managed to keep up with Atobe well, never really going on the offense, but hitting everything that he could back. Already Sefan was feeling rather good about their match, Choutarou was nothing special, it would be a breeze.

As Sefan thought this Atobe made a suggestion. "Ok Choutarou, how about warming up your serve real quick." Choutarou agreed and Sefan decided that he had seen enough turning to watch the match behind him between two 2ed years. After a few seconds though he heard something that sounded like a gunshot. Sefan turned around again in time to see the ball fly past Atobe in the fastest serve he had ever seen in his life. "Ah, there it is, the Scud Serve." Atobe said, having not even tried to hit the demoralizing serve. Choutarou simply nodded and switched sides to try it again. Sefan watched closely this time to see exactly what Choutarou had done to put the serve in. Choutarou tossed the ball high up into the air came down upon it with the gunshot sound echoing out through the courts again. The shot flew forward and right into the net on Choutarou's side.

"Still no where near perfect." Choutarou sighed. "What are you hitting it at now?" Atobe asked. "About 25, one of every four. I know, it's horrible, but I'm working on it" Atobe nodded and packed up his racket before saying "Well good luck with your match Choutarou." And then walking out of the Center court stopping as he passed Sefan. "I hope you were paying attention Kato, because this is what you have to look forward to real soon." Sefan stared up at Atobe before looking back at Choutarou still in the court and saying "Looking forward to it…"


End file.
